For reasons of structural stability and/or economy, swimming pools of both the in-ground and above-ground type are generally kept filled with water, even when the temperatures are too cold for swimming. During the cold off-season months, swimming pools are typically provided with flexible covers that prevent falling or windblown leaves and other kinds of debris from contaminating the water remaining in the pool. The cover thus keeps the water relatively clean and free of extraneous matter, which greatly facilitates the preparation of the pool for the resumption of swimming on the arrival of warm weather.
Over the winter months, however, excessive amounts of water from rain or melted snow can accumulate on the surface of the swimming pool cover. Before the cover can be removed, the bulk of the water must be laboriously removed, while ensuring that any debris deposited on the surface not be allowed to fall into the pool. An even more undesirable situation obtains when the weight of the accumulated water on the surface of the cover is so great as to cause its rupture, resulting not only in the destruction of the cover but in the contamination of the pool water, which the cover was intended to prevent.
A variety of solutions have been proposed to address the just discussed problems. For example, West, U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,764, describes a flexible swimming pool cover that includes a centrally located water-receiving well that is covered with a screen and provided with a drain opening that can be connected to a drainage hose.
Hodak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,681, discloses an apparatus and method for draining a swimming pool cover that includes a drain passage placed through a hole in a swimming pool cover and having an inlet end whose height above the cover can be adjusted to regulate the amount of water that accumulates on the surface of the cover. The drain passage is connected with a conduit that is, in turn, attached to a port in the side wall of the swimming pool.
Zietek, U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,629, describes a self-draining swimming pool cover having a drain fitting attached to a hole in the cover, a first hose extending from the drain fitting to an outlet in the pool side wall, and a second hose on the other side of the side wall for directing the disposal of the drained water.
Hashmi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,743, discloses a kit for converting a standard pool cover into a self-draining cover, by which a collar is sealably connected to a hole cut in the cover by screw threads, a corresponding internally threaded nut, and a rubber grommet. The collar is attached to a hose that is connected at its other end to the skimmer of the pool.
Prior art apparatus for draining a pool cover typically include a conduit connected by a rigid fitting to the interior side wall of the pool. Freezing of the water around such fittings may result in significant damage to the pool wall. The possibility of such damage is avoided by the pool cover and drainage device of the present invention